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chapter 41
They had a pleasant walk, chatting along the way.
Grace hadn’t wanted to bring up Sophien again, but her curiosity suddenly reared its head, and she couldn’t stop herself from asking.
“Sir.”
“Mm?”
“You said I imprisoned Sophien. Doesn’t that bother you?”
“…It did bother me.”
“But you were only surprised. Don’t you feel scared or disgusted or anything like that?”
Honestly, she hadn’t planned to tell him for a while. But since Leto seemed so conscious of Sophien and frightened of her, she’d had no choice.
Still, for someone who’d supposedly been terrified, he’d accepted the situation surprisingly calmly — almost too calmly.
“You’re not trying to get close to me just so you can release Sophien later, are you?”
As she said it, the theory started sounding plausible even to her, and suspicion deepened in her eyes.
“Uh? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“I’m speechless. I can’t believe that’s what you’re thinking.”
“That’s really all?”
“I have no intention of freeing Sophien. I just got curious what I’d be like without her — so I decided to try living like this for a while.”
“And if you don’t like it, will you let her go?”
“If I say I don’t like it, will you let her out?”
“…I don’t think that’ll happen, but if you order it, what choice does a powerless maid like me have?”
“Maybe the young master you serve thinks differently.”
“My master respects other people’s wishes. And while you’re thinking seriously about all this, we won’t just sit around. We’ll work hard to win you over.”
“…Ha.”
Leto laughed at her blunt confession.
But really — unless he was insane, who would refuse freedom and peace?
Not to mention, the food was delicious, and unlike before, no one was nagging him to study.
“Get ready!”
“…You sound very confident.”
“Of course.”
Grace grinned brightly.
Grace returned in high spirits.
“Young master! I’m back!”
But as soon as she opened the door, the mood felt… off.
Rivaine stood there with a stiff expression, staring right at her, and Essy beside him was quietly watching the situation.
Grace’s cheerful smile froze.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
Rivaine rarely looked so serious. Worried that something bad had occurred, Grace stepped closer.
“Grace, where were you?”
Even at her concerned tone, Rivaine didn’t soften his expression.
“You went to see that person again, didn’t you?”
“…Ah, yes.”
“Why?”
“Well, to persuade Lord Leto, of course.”
“Did it work?”
His tone wasn’t normal. The air felt heavy — strange.
Grace glanced around nervously, trying to read Rivaine’s mood.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Rivaine answered bluntly.
“I just don’t like it. You’re trying too hard.”
“Sorry? What do you mean?”
“These days, you barely pay attention to me. You’re always off visiting that Lera or Leto or whatever.”
Ah. He was sulking.
“I only did my best because you told me to, young master. But if you don’t like it, I’ll stop.”
“…You still have Essy.”
“All right. I’ll leave it to Essy for now, then. Will that make you feel better?”
“…Really?”
“Of course.”
Grace’s top priority was always Rivaine.
Maybe he realized that, because his tone softened.
“…Sorry. I was just being childish.”
“It’s okay. Now that I think about it, I have been neglecting you lately.”
“That’s true.”
He agreed so fast that Grace couldn’t help but laugh.
He must’ve really been sulking.
“Are you still upset?”
“…If you admit it that easily, I can’t stay mad. And for the record, I never get angry at you, Grace.”
“So this time you were just sulking?”
“I wasn’t sulking. I just thought you were forgetting your duties.”
Hmm. Fair enough.
“I’m sorry.”
Grace admitted and apologized without hesitation. Rivaine, who had been grumbling a moment ago, cleared his throat and asked,
“More importantly… how’s he?”
“He still seems confused. But better than I expected.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Oh, and I think he’s guessed he’s an illegitimate child.”
“…Ah.”
“And he thinks you must really hate him.”
“Me? Why?”
“Well, because of his status. So, I was thinking — how about the two of you have a meal together?”
“…A meal?”
“Yes. I think it’d help him see that you’re someone who wants to support him, not someone to fear. But if it makes you uncomfortable, we don’t have to.”
Rivaine fell silent for a moment, lost in thought. Then he muttered under his breath,
“If this Leto or whoever stabilizes soon… you’ll be able to rest easier, won’t you?”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Fine, we’ll have a meal together.”
“Really?”
He nodded, saying any time was fine.
Since that walk, Leto had even started going outside with Essy.
It was amazing — just the absence of Sophien had already changed him so much.
“Can I… eat this?”
Of course, after years of being controlled by Sophien, he couldn’t adjust overnight.
Leto still found it hard to make decisions on his own.
“Of course you can. Would you like anything else?”
Even for simple things, he always needed reassurance.
“Can I have more?”
“Yes, just say the word.”
“T-then, um, the thing I had last time…”
“What thing?”
“The food on a stick — the sweet one. That was good.”
“Ah, I know what you mean. I’ll ask the chef to prepare it again.”
Lately, his biggest interest was food.
After years of eating garbage, real meals had revived his appetite, and he was eating much more.
He’d even put on a little weight, and his once-dull hair now had a healthy shine.
“Ah, no — I don’t need it right now. The next meal will be fine.”
“Okay. I’ll let them know ahead of time. Oh, right, young master.”
“Mm?”
“My master said he’d like to have dinner with you sometime. What do you think?”
Since Rivaine had already agreed, and Leto seemed much more relaxed now, she thought it was the right time to ask.
But Leto was so startled he dropped his fork.
“W-what? What did you say?”
“Huh? He said he’d like to have dinner with you.”
“W-with me? Your young master? Doesn’t he… already know?”
“He’s not the kind of person who cares about that. I told you before — he knew and still chose to help. Why are you surprised?”
Leto looked utterly shocked, as if that possibility had never occurred to him.
Then, after a moment’s thought, his expression hardened with determination, and he nodded.
“Okay.”
“What?”
“I’ll… have dinner with him.”
“Great. How about tonight?”
“Uh… tonight?”
“Well, you looked so resolute just now.”
If they waited a few days, that resolve might crumble again.
Leto seemed to realize the same thing, because he clenched his fists and declared firmly,
“Yes. Tonight. Right now.”
And so, the dinner between the two young men was arranged.
An awkward silence filled the air.
Both of them were naturally reserved, so even as they ate, not a word was exchanged.
Grace, watching from the side, could hardly breathe from the tension.
She wanted to throw in a topic — any topic — but the only things they had in common were Sophien and the duke.
Both, of course, were landmines.
Just as she was fretting over what to do, Leto finally spoke first.
“Um…”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. And… I’m sorry.”
Leto suddenly expressed gratitude and apology mid-meal.
“For what?”
“…I heard you were the one who led the effort to help me.”
“…It’s not much.”
Honestly, if Grace hadn’t cared, he wouldn’t have bothered.
“And I… um… you know that I’m…”
“So what?”
“I thought you might feel disgusted.”
“It doesn’t exactly make me happy.”
Before he could even finish, Leto’s face went pale.
But it was best to hear the whole thing.
“Because of that filthy man, innocent people have suffered.”
“Pardon? You mean… me?”
Leto looked confused.
“Not you. The Duke of Foret. I don’t like him. I don’t even want to call him father.”
“…Ah.”
“In this matter, the only real victim is you. What’s the duke lost, really? You were abandoned at birth, raised here without protection or care.”
“…”
“So you’ve done nothing wrong, and you have nothing to apologize for.”
Leto blinked blankly.
“…I… I didn’t…”
He hadn’t expected to hear anything like that. His voice trembled, and before long, tears began to spill down his cheeks.
